Unplugged
by isagani14
Summary: Love comes in many different shapes and circumstances. One twist fate and electricity conundrum brings two hearts together.


**This is a short story that I converted into a fanfiction. If you know it, I know you recognize it. But if you happen to like it, tell via reviews. Reviews make my day. As for Umbrella, I'm finishing it up. Don't worry. Enjoy this one while I'm at it! Tnx.  
**

**Unplugged**

Love is a very powerful emotion that governs over almost everything in this world. Love can overcome obstacles, no matter how great or small. And it can even bridge great gaps between cultures, worlds and people. Indeed, love has much more power than we give it credit for. And we, as ordinary people, would do anything to seek out the person with whom we harbor this powerful emotion for. Fighting all odds, that's how we gain it.

This story is about that. About the love coming from two unexpected beings.

The lights had started to dim along the office corridors, the janitors doing their nightly rounds as they checked the office for any employees catching up on overtime and assigned night shift. Along the sea of cubicles, inside an office, two desks were still occupied by tired and weary employees. One of them was a man by the name of Uchiha Sasuke, a son of a business mogul from a clan who practically ruled the world of business and commerce. A very handsome young man with promising talent and intelligence, his future lay neat and bright in front of him in a wrapped-up package of great opportunity. Despite all that and taking advantage of all that, he had always believed in using his own resources and smarts to be successful in his life. And he didn't bother trying to fit into his family as he had always been quite aloof, stubborn and arrogant.

The other, a young woman by the name of Hyuuga Hinata. The heiress of a clan cornering a quarter of the global stock market, and eldest daughter of the scion of a powerful brotherhood descending from one of the great shinobi clan during the feudal times of Japan. Shy, conservative, properly bred and soft spoken; she, however, is a brilliant and assertive thinker when it came to business and entrepreneurship. Though often hindered by others of being a "mere" woman, she has a very promising future ahead of her and an outstanding career in store for her.

These two are the most outstanding employees in this company. This company had just been their stepping stone into becoming presidents or CEOs for some huge company.

Today they've just been promoted. He was going to be moved to a larger and much more widely recognized international banking firm as a General manager. While she was transferring to an internationally recognized computer corporation responsible for distributing most of the world's purchased computer hardware and software under the same job title.

And today they were packing all their things and supplies in anticipation of going into a corporate battlefield.

They worked silently, with only the plastic wall separating them. Their lamps flickered for the briefest moments, no doubt exhausted like them after the long hours of slaving under it. Hinata smiled wanly at it; she was tired but oddly giddy and expectant toward the upcoming day. After all, it's not everyday that you get to go on promotional transfer. Sasuke, however, was cool and impassive as always; but the thrill and excitement was clearly evident in his eyes, finding pleasure in attaining a respectable, if not good, accomplishment. They were thinking along the same lines; yet, they were oblivious to each other's presence.

It was nearing eight in the evening when the janitor peeked his head in and reminded them about the closing of the office.

"Um… Miss Hyuuga this floor is about to close. I suggest that you wrap it up for the night and get a good shut-eye; you'll need it for tomorrow. Congratulations about the promotion, though," the janitor smiled warmly at the pretty young woman. Hinata smiled softly in return.

"Don't worry, it won't take long. I'll finish this in a bit then I'll be heading out. Thank you"

The janitor gestured imploringly at the next cubicle. "Same goes for Mr. Uchiha. Good night."

A look of mild surprise graced Hinata's gentle features as the janitor moved away. She gazed at the wall separating her from the indifferent occupant on the other side. She smiled faintly as she called gently to him.

"Uh…hey, Uchiha, we should get going"

She heard a grunt from the other side, an indication of Sasuke's agreement. She got up quietly and quickly fixed her hair, composing her appearance; after all she needed to look presentable to the rest of her noble clan. Though all the same, she still looked just as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. She stood up quietly and gathered all her things and checked if everything was at its proper place. Everything was in order but she then realized she had never noticed until now. Her desk lamp wasn't packed yet.

On the other side Sasuke stood up too; stretching and yawning; he took in his surroundings and lazily packed his laptop into its rightful sleeve as he gathered his documents. Every one of his possessions lay neatly packed in designated boxes…except for his desk lamp.

Hinata contemplated on trying to fit this one object into the already-packed boxes, but then shrugged it for tomorrow; she'd never do a thing like this but she was tired anyway and let this put to rest for tomorrow. While on the other side, Sasuke scratched his head with obvious impatience. _He didn't want to deal with this right now. _Both of them left it at that and got out of their cubicles.

As they stepped out, they didn't realize that they were in collision course with each other, both preoccupied by thoughts of tomorrow. They didn't notice it until it was too late; their bodies collided, Hinata's petite body knocked back as the stuff they were carrying cascaded down. She vaguely heard him growl in annoyance and, possibly, anger; she quivered uncertainly at the thought of having the infamous Uchiha marketing genius angry at her. She looked up fearfully and froze involuntarily at seeing the look of pure impatience and distaste etched unto his handsome features.

"Am I in trouble?" she thought numbly.

Sasuke sighed and lightly scratched his dark hair, letting go of his previous infuriation. He looked around absently and his eyes fell upon the woman sprawled on the floor before him, a look fright on her pretty face. A smirk nearly presented itself onto his lips but the notion fell when he felt his throat constrict, his heart rate quicken to an almost impossible beating tempo as he stared at the most gorgeous woman he laid his eyes upon. Bearing unearthly beauty hidden by her meek and gentle façade, snow white skin, midnight black hair and opalescent silvery eyes; she was the last person he expected to meet.

Just like him, Hinata was transfixed to see this devastatingly handsome man in front of her; what's more, he was staring right at her. Her eyes drank in the sight of him, from his jet black hair, his tall stature, his muscular build and his cool and haughtily arrogant facade emphasizing his look of crisp sophistication. Her heart fluttered frantically inside her chest.

They had never really made any kind of contact with each other inside the office, much less outside since they don't make much small talk with each other. Both of knew that the other worked in this company but for some reason they didn't even take the time to know whoever worked beyond the plastic wall that separated them from each other. Hence, the initial reaction they gave each other. However, the initial spark of their obvious chemistry with each other was very much evident; there was something special that they shared at that moment.

They snapped out of their daze and crashed back into reality; Hinata was first to react, her face incredibly pink, she tried to reach for her scattered possessions while muttering bashfully.

"I'm so sorry Uchiha; I could be such a klutz sometimes…"

Sasuke watched her as he assisted her in picking up her things as he reached for his own. As they silently picked up what they dropped, their hands accidentally grasped each other as both of them attempted to reach for an eraser at the same time. Her face heated up and she drew away, stowing her eraser away and looking at anything but him. He smirked amusedly as he watched her fuss around and standing up shakily. He, too, stood up and faced her, studying her features. Finally, he spoke, "You're the Hyuuga royalty that everyone had been talking about since you worked here, aren't you? Hyuuga Hinata of the great Hyuuga clan?"

She blushed even harder as she replied meekly. "H-Have they? I didn't notice…" He looked at her again but was drawn to her once more when she spoke softly. "And you're? Uchiha…?"

He was utterly shocked that she didn't know who he was; after all, who doesn't notice a guy like him walking around the place? All the female employees did. But not this one. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke.", he replied sternly. Her cheeks pinked and she smiled timidly. "Oh. I only knew your older brother, Itachi ,since I met him at an inter clan meeting not long ago. He was an interesting person to talk to but I didn't know that he had a younger brother."

She smiled warmly and his heart did a giddy somersault at seeing her smile. However, he was unusually disgruntled by how this woman practically told him that he was non existent compared to his great, faultless brother. It definitely felt like a punch to his stomach or even a kick in the groin. However…

"But it is nice to meet you. Goodnight." She gave him one of her radiantly heartwarming smiles before she walked past him out of the office. He was frozen on the spot for a moment, feeling curiously pleasant and a tingling sensation within him as her smile flashed in his mind. He too walked toward the opposite direction a shadow of a smile lingering on his lips.

But a nagging thought sprung up in their mind: Would they ever be able to see each other and get to know each other more after they parted from the company and each other?

In the office, however, something broke the eerie peace within as a light flickered and a bright light bathed the office, spilling all over the floor. The light came from a blue desk lamp on Sasuke's desk. The warm glow flickered off for a moment until it appeared again, as if the lamp blinked, adjusting to its surroundings. It was as if it had come to life. It certainly did when the neck twisted around d to face the wall beside it, looking beyond to the desk; Hinata's desk, or what was on it. Separated by the opaque wall, the lamp faced it fully, craning its neck to get a better look. When it never got what it wanted, it tried even more; but the effort was futile until it decide to jump up to get a better look. It leapt up high and hung its head over the wall when it got close enough.

Its unblinking gaze was fixed on the object it desired to see: Hinata's luminescent pink lamp.

The obviously male light flashed at the female lamp, trying to catch its attention. The female lamp awoke from its slumber and pale light spilled all over the workspace. It turned its attention toward the object calling at her and its light strengthened slightly in recognition.

A lamp's love affair. It was its love that was calling it and it was very happy to meet the other once more.

The female lamp craned her neck to watch him but it was short-lived when the male lamp shook and slipped from his vantage point and fell out of sight. The pink lamp looked out for him worriedly, wondering if was alright.

Lying on the desk's surface, the blue lamp shook its head and stood up; determined to find a way to see his loved one. Its gaze searched through the workspace and brightened at suddenly finding a solution to his predicament.

Hopping like a bunny, it headed towards the file cabinet propped against the wall beside the desk. Looking down, it braced itself for an obstacle. It looked around and hopped towards the edge. Taking time to build its confidence; it took an almighty leap, making the bottom drawer slide out. It then leapt up again, this time the second drawer sliding out; the action was repeated and the topmost drawer glided smoothly out. The drawers formed a set of stairs for it to climb down.

Taking the chance to take matters into its own hands, it carefully and cautiously climbed down; checking for even footing so the drawer wouldn't tip over. The first two jumps were fine but during the third leap, the cabinet swung dangerously forward. Panic coursing through its wirings, the little lamp tried to jump down with as much care and balance it could muster. It jumped down both relieved and fright at finally being able to go down without much difficulty.

But the snags weren't over, not just yet. As the little desk light started to hop away, the iron filing cabinet gave a loud, retching creek as it loomed formidably over it. The lamp quaked in panic and fear as it desperately tried to move to escape a crushing fate. The heavy cabinet teetered back and forth, pinning the poor lamp in a state of fear. However, it snapped back to reality when it felt its wire getting caught up underneath it. It frantically started to hop away but as soon as the idea presented itself, it was once more in a rather tight spot. The plug was still attached to the electrical outlet. Panicked, it tried to get away as quickly as it can. But the wire was completely caught up under the cabinet, the plug was very difficult to pull out, and because of all the hassled efforts of escape it had been attempting, the cabinet finally gave way and started to crash down heavily, bringing with it a ton's worth of files and papers. Seizing the chance to grab escape, the lamp pulled at the cord with all its might as it hurriedly tried to move away. It seemed like it was almost an eternity as the silent but frantic struggle continued on, with the lamp fearing for its life and the iron cabinet attempting to kill it in one crushing fall. The lamp didn't have the slightest clue as to what would happen to him if it failed to pass this challenge.

The pink desk light was worried to death of what has become of her beloved lover. It heard the most frightening sounds from beyond the wall and the obvious noises of a struggle made it even more concerned about her love's fate. It hopped towards the edge of the desk closest to the wall and strained to see what was going on in there.

The lamp was still battling its demise, growing tired and frantic to seize another day to enjoy its life as possession of his Master Siegfried, and to love Miss Hinata's lovely lamp. Finally, fate granted it a reprieve and allowed him an escape. It pulled with all its strength, managing to do so, and narrowly missed being flattened by the cabinet as it came down in a thunderous crash. The lamp hopped quickly to safety as it stumbled to get to his beloved. It saw a cord hanging in a loop to aid it; looking up, it was his beloved's own wire, pulled to help him get to her safely. Moved by this, the lamp held on to it and was pulled up instantly.

Finally safe, it faced the love of its life. After what seemed like eternity, they moved closer to each, conveying the deep love they felt for each other. They were stuck in their own little world and it was theirs to keep,

But the mood was ruined, however, when the lights flicked on and footsteps could be heard, approaching quickly. Sasuke appeared, then Hinata; both of them unable to withstand the thought of leaving one object unpacked.

They stopped dead in their tracks as they stared in shock, mouths agape in surprise as they absorbed the curious sight in front of them. A cabinet down on the floor, its contents spilling out, and their two lamps standing face to face to each other. Something strange happened here.

They looked at each other curiously, neither had the answer to what occurred. Finally, Hinata spoke "Maybe our lamps didn't want to be parted." Honestly, she didn't know what happened.

He raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed, explaining "Maybe… we could go out sometime. You know, keep the friendship alive." She added hopefully, wishing for him to accept.

He smiled and replied gladly "How about having coffee with me for a while, then we'll talk?" he offered, hoping she would understand his intentions and comply kindly.

To his own joy, she smiled beautifully and accepted. "Yes. I'd love to."

They walked out of the office, hand-in-hand, embarking on something as exciting as love. The lamps looked at each other knowingly, a miracle happened here.

So you see, love conquers all and bridges gaps. And love conquers electricity.


End file.
